I am done with traveling at least for about the next two weeks. I have noticed that I am in my usual routine, but my sleep schedule is really off. I have been going to bed so early and waking up really early too, and it seems pretty lame for my age. But I find myself, being this far into the winter, getting really tired early in the evening. I think it is because Vermont, I heard, has the fewest amount of sunny days out of any of the states. Therefore, by not having too many sunny days, I am getting tired and feeling deary and gloomy just like the weather usually is. So I would recommend finding an outdoor or indoor hobby that just gets you pumped up and excited to be in Vermont. I went to yoga last night at a studio in Pittsfield with a couple of friends. We had a great ride to the studio and a great session that relieved all of our stress that we had built up. I felt great afterwards and ended up staying up later getting more of my homework done. So when you are in Vermont, get in the habit of getting out and about at all times of year to keep your mind clear, stress down, and to keep a smile on your face 
Archive for February, 2008
(Now in case you’re thinking “you’re kidding, Sally — you say ’so yeah’ way too much in your blogs,” let me just claim that I do that on purpose to keep the blogging informal, even conversational, and I am actually capable of writing something relatively professional-sounding when necessary. I think. But for whatever reason I tend to think that blogging, by its nature, should be fairly colloquial. That may be an unjustified opinion, but we all have our idiosyncrasies. But I’m off on a tangent now. So yeah.)
So I had my oral argument on Tuesday morning. Oh my goodness. I could have used an extra day or two to work on my brief, which was due last Friday and probably would have been better if, at the last minute, I’d suddenly been given an extension on the deadline (however, if the deadline had been later to start with, I would have just procrastinated longer to get to work on the brief and it would have ended up just as sucky). So my brief wasn’t as good as I would have liked, and there were improvements I would have made if time permitted, but I’m still holding out some hope that my brief wasn’t totally horrible either (at least until it is returned to me with a grade that says otherwise). I like to think that it was relatively coherent and somewhat logical and that I did an acceptably decent job of following the conclusion-rule-application-conclusion format. I know it could have been better, but maybe it wasn’t bad enough to merit the word “NO” scribbled across the top as the professor’s feedback. (As an undergraduate I once had a professor who graded some students’ exams that way. But not mine, of course! 
)
Oral argument is quite another matter. At home, on my couch, thinking about the case and penciling notes on my opposing counsel’s brief and in my notebook, it all makes perfect sense in my mind. But when I step up to the lectern to explain all this for the judge (professor), somehow my mind doesn’t repeat all the same brilliant (heh) things it told me in the days before. Yes, I know, I should prepare really good notes, in large bold font for easy reference, in proper order, so I’ll know exactly what to say. I should, really. And I meant to. But in the days leading up to the performance, I found myself unable to work it in due to extenuating factors, I guess. Or something. So yeah. I wasn’t well prepared, and it showed.
Also I felt like a tool getting up to make basically the same arguments that were already written out in my brief. And I’d never done this sort of thing before, so even if I’d been told what to expect, it was still a new experience. I seemed to especially have trouble getting back on track after being asked a question. I liked being asked questions, though. I really did. Some questions that I expected didn’t get asked, and some that I didn’t expect, did. Some I couldn’t answer and I had to say that the information wasn’t in my facts.
So what all this boils down to is that I need to make a habit of preparing myself better before ever speaking in front of anyone about anything of importance, but at least now I have an idea of what the whole oral argument thing is really like — an idea from personal experience, rather than mere description from someone else. There’s just no substitute for experience.
And my writing, for all its flaws, is much better than my speaking (which isn’t saying much). So yeah.
Coming back from winter break, settling into classes, and traveling have had me very occupied this semester. It seems that second semester is very busy, but everyone knows what is going on so I don’t feel as lost- just busy all the time. However, I like being very busy so maybe it might just be me feeling this way.
A few weeks ago I applied for the JD program here at VLS and am still waiting on whether I was admitted. Besides waiting for this news, I have been preparing a summary judgment and oral argument for the MSEL writing class. I have found this fairly challenging, but a great experience. I was very nervous about how to argue my case in front of the judge (our professor) and the defendant (a felllow classmate), but everything went well after I stepped up to the podium. This week I am fairly finished with class assignments and am preparing to go out of town to Maryville, MO. I really like traveling while at VLS becasue it gives me a chance to get out of the town and to really focus on my homework without the distractions I seem to find around VLS and at my house. I think I work very well in airports because I seem to get a lot of homework reading done, and when I return I am more focused on what I need to do before I travel again next.
We are expecting a large snow storm tonight, but I am still going to do my homework because the past few weeks we have been hammered with snow, but no snow days. So I am not counting on a snow day, and if we have one, I will be delighted to sleep in
